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Germany
at the Berlin Wall in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.]] The Federal Republic of Germany, or the Bundesrepublik Deutschland in German, is a country in central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea, to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Within its borders are a portion of the Alps mountains, the famous Rhine river, and the Black Forest. Germany is a democratic parliamentary federal republic, made up of 16 states, which in certain spheres act independently of the federation. Historically consisting of several sovereign nations with their own history, language (distinct dialects), culture and religion, Germany was unified as a nation state during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/1871. Germany is a member state of the United Nations, NATO, the G8 and the G4 nations, and is a founding member of the European Union. It is the European Union's most populous and most economically powerful member state. Germany's current leader and also its first woman to become chancellor (the head of government) is Angela Merkel, who was elected in 2005. The German language is one of the world's major languages. It is spoken by more than 120 million people in 38 countries of the world. It is — like English, Spanish and French — a pluricentric language with Germany, Austria and Switzerland as the three main centers of usage. Therefore, the following Muppet co-productions aired in all three countries: Muppet Connections * Sesamstrasse is the German-language, and first international co-production of Sesame Street. It begain to air as a dubbed version in 1973, and received its first German set and puppets in 1977. * Die Muppet Show is the German-language co-production of The Muppet Show, which featured one German guest star for English speaking audiences, Elke Sommer, and a second one for German audiences: Mary Roos, who appeared in a locally altered version of episode 121 in 1977. * The variety show Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten aired two specials taped on the original sets of Sesame Street (1975) and The Muppet Show (1977) to promote the German dubs of each show. * Die Fraggles is the German-language co-production of Fraggle Rock, featuring its own Doc, debuting in 1983. * Uncle Travelling Matt visited Germany's popular tourist attraction Neuschwanstein Castle for the episode "The Great Radish Caper". * In 1984, Uncle Travelling Matt; still stunned from his visit to the city of Hamburg's red-light district St. Pauli - Reeperbahn; appeared on the children's show Große Show für kleine Leute on ZDF to promote the theatrical release of Die Muppets Erobern Manhattan, presenting a clip from the movie as well ("I'm Gonna Always Love You"). * Both The Art of the Muppets and The Vision of Jim Henson were Muppet exhibitions that toured Germany. * The German dub of Muppet Babies ran successfully throughout the 1980s. * Sesamstrasse characters Tiffy, Samson and Finchen appeared on the 1993 special Sesame Street Stays Up Late!, which like most Sesame Street specials was also dubbed for the German language market. * Die Dinos, the German dub of Dinosaurs debuted in 1993. * In 1994 The Secret Life of Toys was shot in Monheim, Germany, as a co-production between Jim Henson Productions, BBC, WDR (West German Broadcast), and Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen (the North Rhine Westfalia Film Foundation). It aired in Germany as Die Spielzeugbande ("The Toy Gang") in 1997. * The German dub of Dog City debuted in 1995. * Jim Hensons Animal Show mit Stinky und Jake, the German dub of The Animal Show debuted in 1995. * German media company EM.TV purchased the Jim Henson Company in 2000, and sold it back to the Henson family in 2003. During EM.TV's tenure, they sold the rights to the Sesame characters to Sesame Workshop. * Farscape - Verschollen im All (Farscape - Lost in Space), the German dub of Farscape debuted in 2000. * For Sesamstrasse's 30th anniversary special in 2003, Ernie and Bert were shipped to Germany to make special appearances not only on the special, but every now and then throughout the coming seasons. The Elmo puppet was used on promotional photos, but not during the actual show. Kevin Clash brought the puppet along, while overseeing the training of Ernie and Bert's German Muppeteers. A Little Bird, and other Sesame Street puppets also make sporadic appearances since Sesamstrasse's 30th season. * In May of 2005, Kermit the Frog appeared in a BMW commercial, exclusively shot for the German market. The commercial was later dubbed for other European countries. Germany